Ancient places with new opportunities

Matthew 16: 13-20; Mark 8: 27-30; Luke 9: 18-21

Matthew 16: 15-17

¹⁵He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

The crossroads of decision is the intersection of the contemporary culture and the biblical story of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. It’s the place where we all stand. It’s a place that we may be aware of or it may be a place we are totally oblivious to; but this is exactly where we stand. Jesus drew this to the attention of His disciples at a town called Caesarea Philippi. ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ asked Jesus (Verse 13). The response is the first arm of the crossroads; it begins with the request of a response from contemporary culture to the teachings and practices of Jesus. The answer is always diverse and even bizarre. ‘But who do you say that I am?’ is the question directed to disciples; the Christ aware, Holy Spirit informed and those who are actively finding themselves in the story of Jesus of the Nazareth sermon. The response by Peter: ‘‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’’ is the second arm of the crossroads.  These two arms intersect at the point of salvation: that is the point where the hope of the Nazareth Sermon that is the fulfilment of the prophetic purposes of Christ meet the needs of contemporary culture. The truth and acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah, that is the fulfilment of the prophetic promises results in a new social order, a Kingdom, a community called the Church.  This is not just an ordinary flesh and blood community; it is a revelation of the divine community and their plan and purpose. Jesus and His disciples are in an ancient place with a new name. Caesarea Philippi was a new name given by a puppet Herod Philip the Tetrarch in honour of Caesar Augustus. It was the site of the ancient worship of the pagan god pan. There was a cave nearby associated with the ancient cult that was thought to be gates of Hades (death).  Perhaps it all makes a bit more sense? The disciples stand at the crossroads of decision; a place of ancient cultic practices but also a place where Jesus has come to announce the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. The old sites and their practices are passing away into the realm of history; the new has come in fulfilment of a promise; it has arrived and the old ways of death being practiced around them will not stop the inevitability of the consummation of the Kingdom. The rock on which the community of disciples and the Kingdom of God is built is on the assurance that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Today you and I stand again at the crossroads of decision. We are in an ancient place surrounded by all sorts of idolatrous worship and all sorts of competing claims. We can be the intersection of the teachings and practices of Jesus in our contemporary period if we would acknowledge and accept Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God and turn His teachings into our practices.